Department of Psychology

Location:  Egham
Salary:  £35,931 to £36,938 per annum pro rata - including London Allowance  
Full Time, Fixed Term
Closing Date:  Wednesday 25 August 2021
Interview Date:  Monday 20 September 2021
Reference:  0721-241

Full time, Fixed term, 12 months 

Applications are invited for the post of Research Fellow in the Department of Psychology.

The position would be in the N-CoDe (Neuroscience of Communication Lab), which is directed by Dr. Saloni Krishnan. 

We have recently received Academy of Medical Sciences Springboard funding for the project, “The neural and cognitive basis of motivation for reading”. This is an exciting opportunity to empirically assess motivation for reading, and assess if motivation might differ in those with reading disorders such as dyslexia.

The post offers significant opportunity for skill development, including gaining experience of developmental MRI and computational modelling methods. The postholder would join a small group embedded within a thriving research-intensive department. Royal Holloway has a dedicated MRI scanner, a strong MRI research community, and excellent research-practice links with schools. The post also offers the opportunity to collaborate with the broader project team, including Dr. Pablo Ripollés (NYU), Dr. Matthew Apps (Birmingham), and Dr. Jessie Ricketts (Royal Holloway). 

Essential criteria for the post include:

• A PhD in psychology, cognitive neuroscience or similar (we are happy to consider candidates in the final year of their PhD, who are working towards submission)
• Strong interest in learning, literacy, and development
• Excellent skills in task development
• Experience with data collection
• The ability to work independently and largely unsupervised
• Being a team player. Approachable, showing good interpersonal skills with people at all levels, both inside and outside the organisation
• Good communication skills, in both writing and speaking
• High level of efficiency and good attention to detail in handling data
• Willingness to obtain DBS clearance to work with children

Desirable criteria include:

• A first-authored paper in an international peer-reviewed journal/ preprint
• Experience/ knowledge of acquisition and analysis of MRI data
• Experience/knowledge of standardised assessments of language, reading, and/ or cognition
• Experience/knowledge of computational modelling 
• Experience working with children in a research capacity

We encourage candidates to apply if they meet all of the essential criteria, but do not meet all of the desirable criteria.

This is a full-time post, available from 01 September 2021 or as soon as possible thereafter for a fixed term until 01 August 2022, with the possibility of extension as the grant runs till August 2023. 

In return we offer a highly competitive rewards and benefits package including:

• Generous annual leave entitlement 
• Training and Development opportunities
• Pension Scheme with generous employer contribution 
• Various schemes including Cycle to Work, Season Ticket Loans and help with the cost of Eyesight testing. 
• Free parking  

The post is based in Egham, Surrey where the College is situated in a beautiful, leafy campus near to Windsor Great Park and within commuting distance from London. 

For an informal discussion about the post, please contact the PI Dr. Saloni Krishnan on saloni.krishnan@rhul.ac.uk.To find out more about the Neuroscience of Communication Development (N-CoDe Lab), please see www.ncodelab.com 

To view further details of this post and to apply please visit https://jobs.royalholloway.ac.uk. For queries on the application process the Human Resources Department can be contacted by email at: Recruitment@rhul.ac.uk. 

Royal Holloway recognises the importance of helping its employees balance their work and home life by offering flexible working arrangements.  We are happy to consider a request for flexible working for this post including part time working, occasional working from home, or compressed working hours.

Please quote the reference: 0721 - 241
Closing Date: Midnight, Wednesday 25 August 2021
Interview Date: Interviews will take place on Monday 20 September 2021.